Chapter 40

Chapter 40
Willa

Sebastian drives like a crazy person to get us back to campus. Maxim and Luke are watching me like they’re worried I’ll keel over at any second. I gave up trying to assure them that I was fine, and decided to let the fuss. Oddly enough it seemed to make them feel better the more they checked on me. When we finally return to campus, my feet barely touch the ground, and I’m literally swept off my feet and into Maxim's arms. 

“My arm was injured, not my legs,” I tell him but of course, he ignores my protests. 

I roll my eyes and let him carry me. Pick your battles. That’s what my mom always said, and now I understand why. So I wrap my good arm around Maxim’s neck and let my new husband carry me. Unfortunately, there are a lot of students walking around and we get more than one concerned look as we pass. I don’t blame them, since we all look like we walked out of a tornado and my wedding dress is ripped and has blood on it. 

Honestly, I’m surprised someone hasn’t taken their phone out and filmed us…shit spoke too soon. 

“Guys we might want to hurry or we’re going to be all over social media soon,” I say. 

Their heads swivel around to see more students with their phones out filming as we pass.

“This isn’t good,” Sebastian growls before the guys make a wall around Maxim and me. 

“Don’t worry I’ll handle this.” Lan sounds pretty confident but I’m not sure how he can make that happen. 

We head for the entrance of the building instead of going through the normal entrance to the bunker. Not surprising with how many eyes there are on us. Someone is bound to notice us disappearing into a hidden gate. Lan moves ahead of our group and we follow. I haven’t been in this building yet, and I only have a second to admire the beauty of it. The tall ceilings are curved with designs and decor that show just how old this building is. 

Lan leads us along the sides of the large room filled with study tables and shelves. The shelves obscure us enough that no one seems to notice us as we quickly move through the room. We stop at an indiscreet door that looks like it might open into a janitor’s closet. Lan pulls out a set of keys from his pocket and unlocked the door stepping aside to let us in. It’s dark at first but soon fluorescent lights flicker on and we’re standing in a short hallway. At the very end of it, there is a door that looks like it could stop a bomb. Lan sure doesn’t mess around when it comes to security. 

He moves in front of us and leads us to the door. Just like the door to the bunker, there is a panel of some kind, but this one is slightly different. This one doesn’t have a fancy panel with all kinds of fancy tech. Nope, this one has two keyholes. One on either side of the door. 

“Here.” Lan removes a key from the keychain he’s holding and passes one to Sebastian. 

“What’s this?” Sebastian asks.

“We need to turn the keys simultaneously. Otherwise, the door won't open.” Lan explains. 

“Kind of old-school don’t you think?” Luke asks.

“Maybe but if anyone wanted to get through this door, they would need both keys and there is no way that will happen,” Lan says as he steps forward and slips his key in. 

“They could just kill both of you,” Luke says with a smirk on his face. 

I reach over and smack him on the arm. “Don’t jinx them like that!”

He grabs my hand and turns it over to kiss the inside of my wrist before letting go. Why does that small move make me feel all fuzzy inside? It's a simple thing but somehow seems…more at the same time. 

“One…two…three…” There is a clicking sound from the lock tumblers and the guys remove the keys. 

Lan uses another key to open the final lock on the door and then pulls it open. This is when Maxim finally sets me on my feet again, but he doesn’t release me fully. He wraps an arm around my neck and we all walk through the door. Dim lights reveal a curving staircase. We head down and a familiar tunnel comes into view. 

“This is the other end of the tunnel?” I ask. 

“Yes.” 

We walk in silence down the tunnel until I see the door to the bunker. Lan quickly unlocks it and rushes us through. Immediately he heads for his desk. Luke and Sebastian head for two of the room doors, but I head for Lan. He’s typing away on his keyboard and then every screen is lit up with different social media pages. His main screen though is opened to some sort of program. 

“What are you doing?” I ask him.

“Scrubbing everything about us off the internet.”

His eyes move over the screens and I decide to leave him to it. Before I move away I lean in to kiss him on the cheek but last minute he turns his head and our lips brush against each other. I pull away but he wraps a hand around the side of my neck and pulls me in to bring our lips together in a deeper kiss. My body instantly relaxes. He turns in his chair slightly and wraps his other arm around me, tugging me closer in between his legs. 

“Alright, let go of my wife Lan.” An arm wraps around me from behind and I'm tugged back. 

Lan’s hands fall from me and I catch a hint of annoyance on his face as Maxim leads me away. 

“You’re being a bit selfish don’t you think?” I grumble.

Maxim chuckles. “You had your time with him. It’s my wedding night and I intend to enjoy every second before I have to share you with the others again.”

“It’s not like this a one-night thing, you know.” I remind him but he doesn’t seem to be listening. 

He opens the door to my room and nudges me inside. “Maybe not, but this night is special.”

I turn to face him and for once his playful smile is gone and there is a look on him I haven’t seen yet. His eyes move over me and the smile he gives me is softer…sweeter. He steps closer slides his fingers into the straps of my dress and slides them off my shoulders. I decided on no bra for under the dress so as soon as the dress falls to the ground he could see how the chill of the room is affecting me. His eyes move down to the dainty pair of lace panties I have on. 

Honestly, the dress fabric was so comfortable and soft that I didn’t want to wear much underneath it and I figured Maxim wouldn’t want the extra material in the way. 

“Fuck.” He chokes out.

When his eyes meet mine I can see the hunger there that would make any girl blush. Then his eyes stop their perusal of my body and I follow his stare to where my arm had been crudely wrapped. I'd forgotten about it until now, and when I look at Maxim again his face has shifted into one of concern. 

"We need to get that properly cleaned and bandaged." He says before grabbing my hand and leading me to my ensuite bathroom. 

I want to protest but he's right. The injury can get infected if we don't treat it and a trip to the hospital would bring more attention to us.